1803:] 
Poiteau, without letters of recommenda- 
tion; unacquainted with any one at St. 
Domingo; and, deprived of refources, 
did not lofe courage. He devoted one 
part of the day to labour, in order to pro- 
cure himfelf a fubfftence, and he employed 
the other part in vifiting the environs of 
the town of the Cape, and in collecting 
plants. About this time he fent three 
cargoes of feeds tothe Mufeum of Nafu- 
ral Hittory, two of which happily arrived 
at their deftinations A labour fo painful 
and conftant diminifhed his ftrength, and 
his health being impaired by frequent 
privations, he was obliged tofufpend his la- 
bours, and to {pend feveral months in the hof- 
pitals, in order to reseftablifh his flrength. 
_ The political fituation of St. Domingo 
being a fubject of difquietude to the French 
Government, its particular agents were 
recalled, and their authority vefted ina 
fingle perfon, Citizen Roumé, This lat- 
ter functionary, having more zeal for the - 
advancement of the {cience, granted fome 
affiftance to Citizen Poiteau, which en- 
abled him to refume and to continue his 
labours, and to employ himfelf on the ob- 
je&t of his miffion; but that worthy re- 
prefentative of the republic having gra- 
dually loft his power, and having been 
even deprived of his liberty, Citizen Poi- 
teau was again obliged to difcontinue his 
refearches. 
It was in thefe painful circumftances, 
that our zealous voyager received from a 
foreigner, aman of {cience, fenfible proofs 
of the intereft which his zeal and devoted- 
nefs ought to infpire. Mr. Edward Ste- 
vens, Conful-general of the United States, 
a perfon thoroughly converfant in the 
knowledge of plants, had long Known how 
to appreciate the merit of Poiteau. Aware 
of the important fervices which this natu- 
talift might render to {cience, he employed 
the moft delicate means to furnifh him with 
affiftance. 
Poiteau then devoted himfelf entirely to 
botany. He traverfed the different quar- 
ters of the northern part of St. Domingo, 
but particularly the ifle of LaTortue. He 
did not confine him(elf to the making of 
colleétions; he ftudied. the characters of 
the plants; he defcribed all their organs, 
and almoft always annexed coloured de- 
figns, which, being carefully executed in 
their exfemble, exhibit a faithful image of 
the contour of the plant; and are, more- 
over, highly intere(ting, from the accurate 
details of the parts of fruétification. 
The colle&tion which Citizen Poiteau 
has brought into France, is compofed of 
Boo packets of feds and fruits, one part 
Proceedings of Learned Societies. 
7 
of which has already been delivered by 
him to the gardener of the Mufeum of 
Natural Hiftory, to be fown there on the 
{pot; and about 1200 fpecies of plants, 
the numerous patterns of which, collected 
in the different ages of the individual, and 
carefully prepared, prefent to the ftudent 
all the refources that a collection of this 
nature ought to afford. Thefe fpecies 
have been all named; and although the 
library of Citizen Poiteau was only com- 
pofed of the Philofaphia Botanica of Lin- 
neus, of the Generaot Julfieu, and of the 
Syftema Vegetabiltum of Murray, he was 
able to diltinguith thofe that were mens 
tioned in the works that he poffeffed. 
_ Thofe that he could not determine, he has 
confidered as new. Indeed, many of thefe 
latter are configned, in recent works, which 
our voyager had it not in his power to 
confult; but others, and in a pretty confi- 
derable number, are actually hitherto un- 
publithed. This will-alfo apply to the. 
genera which he has eftablifhed. We find 
many of them in the Prodromus of M. 
Swartz; but there are fome that are aétu- 
ally new; and the publication of which 
will contribute to the progrefs of botany. 
If Citizen Poiteau has been anticipated 
in his refearches, the labours which he 
prefents to the clafs, will not, on that ac 
count, be the lefs ufeful to {cience. The 
botanifts who have written on the vegetas 
ble productions of the Antilles, not being 
fufficiently convinced of the principles, 
and of the advantages of the new mes 
thod, have confined themfelves, in their 
defcriptions, to the fole charaéters of the 
flower and of the fruit, and have almoit 
neglected thofe which refult from the 
ftructure of the feed. Citizen Poiteau hag 
fupplied thefe omiffions, and by dwelling 
on the charaéters which the moft impor 
tant organs furnifh, he has difpelled the 
doubts which botanifts mut have enters 
tained, as to the order that fhould be af 
figned to plants but incompletely defcribed. 
The examen which this voyager has 
made of the plants anciently known, hag 
caufed him to difcover fome errors that 
were perpetuated in the writings of the 
botanilts, and enabled him to determine, 
in a more pretife and accurate manner, - 
the characters of many genera. The clafe 
has been able to judge of the fagacity of 
Citizen Poiteau, by the obfervations that 
he has communicated on the Arachis hype 
ga. Although this plant has been de- 
{cribed by many celebrated botanifts ; ale 
though it has been long cultivated in the 
gardens appropriated to the ftudy of the 
{cience, neverthele(s the form of the calyx, 
the 
